About

Often learners with disabilities are not provided ample opportunities for emergent literacy skills to solidify. This episode presents 4 questions to identify if our learner needs more time with emergent literacy strategies and several practical applications to build emergent reading skills. About the Guest Sofia Benson-Goldberg PhD, CC-SLP works as a research assistant at the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies. Prior to starting her PhD studies, Sofia had her dream clinical job working, with children, teenagers, and young adults with severe physical and cognitive disabilities with complex communication needs at a small private practice in Northern Colorado. Since joining the CLDS, Sofia has been a research assistant on Project Core and Tarheel Shared Reader among other projects. She looks forward to continuing her academic career with a post-doctoral fellowship at the CLDS on Project Open. Links to Mentioned Content: Comprehensive Literacy for All by Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver Shared Reader is a project that uses Tarheel Reader but built in supports for adults to implement shared reading. Especially check out the professional development modules to learn more about how to implement shared reading. Project Core was a project aimed at creating supports for teachers/school teams in supporting students with significant cognitive disabilities in accessing communication all day, every day. Professional development modules are free and cover a range of topics regarding communication and emergent literacy routines. Tarheel Reader is a free website full of books that can be accessed by a variety of access methods. Thousands of titles, really great for shared reading and independent reading/exploration. Dynamic Learning Maps Professional Development This interview is the 3rd of a 12 in the series focusing on literacy instruction for students with disabilities.  Find Sofia on Instagram @sophia_phd_slp Find Kim on Instagram @journey2lomah